Microsoft, OpenAI drive big UK investments on Trump visit
Microsoft Corp., OpenAI, and several other American companies have unveiled intentions to invest tens of billions of dollars in technology infrastructure within the UK. This announcement aligns with a series of business deals that coincide with President Donald Trump’s visit to the nation this week.
The tech giants are committing over £31 billion ($42.3 billion) to artificial intelligence systems, quantum computing initiatives, and various other technology projects, as stated by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on Tuesday. Accompanying Trump on the visit are notable figures from Silicon Valley, such as Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and Sam Altman from OpenAI, the latter of whom is also introducing its Stargate program to the UK. The announcements reinforce an initiative by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer aimed at enhancing relations with the US and promoting technology growth. He has committed to expediting the planning approval process for data centers and facilitating access to the power grid in the UK, a region known for having some of the highest electricity costs in Europe.
The UK government has announced the establishment of a new AI Growth Zone, a data center facility that the Labour Party, led by Starmer, contends will generate employment opportunities across the nation. “The two countries are now pairing up,” stated Kanishka Narayan, during a press briefing. “At the core of this discussion lies a concentration not only on the historical context of our unique relationship but also on what lies ahead.” In the context of the Silicon Valley deals, Starmer is steering clear of a strategy employed by certain European countries, particularly France, which has actively championed domestic AI companies and asserted its autonomy from American technology.
OpenAI finds itself at the forefront of a monumental $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project, a significant initiative that was announced by Trump in January. The AI company has announced its intention to expand its Stargate initiative to other countries. In the British operation, OpenAI, alongside partners like Nscale Global Holdings Ltd., will be hosting approximately 60,000 of Nvidia’s latest Blackwell semiconductors. OpenAI is contemplating the utilization of up to 8,000 of the chips in the first quarter of 2026, with the possibility of expanding that number to 31,000 in the future. The UK Stargate project is set to encompass various locations, notably featuring a new AI Growth Zone in Northeast England. Narayan refrained from disclosing the amount that the companies would be investing in the project.
Microsoft has committed to investing $30 billion over the next four years in AI infrastructure and its current operations in the UK — a move the software company describes as its most significant financial pledge to Britain. In accordance with the agreement, the company will construct a supercomputer featuring over 23,000 advanced graphics processing units, which are the essential chips utilized to drive artificial intelligence software. It is collaborating with the British data center company Nscale. The supercomputer is set to be located at Nscale’s AI campus in Loughton, which is situated near London.
Nvidia announced that its technology will play a crucial role in a £11 billion investment aimed at AI data centers both within the UK and beyond. It is collaborating with Nscale and CoreWeave Inc. on the development of new facilities that are set to deploy 120,000 AI accelerator chips in the UK by 2026. Nscale is utilizing Nvidia chips in its home country and various other nations as part of an ambitious 300,000-chip-based computer build-out. The US company stated that this initiative will position it “as a global infrastructure player.” Nvidia announced its commitment to “accelerating the AI industrial revolution in the United Kingdom,” yet it refrained from disclosing the specific amount of its investment or the details of its approach.
CoreWeave, a provider of data center capacity for companies such as OpenAI, announced its intention to invest £1.5 billion in the UK. It is collaborating with Nvidia and the Scottish data center company DataVita Ltd. to implement its technology within a facility owned by DataVita in Chapelhall. The data center, powered by renewable energy, is set to provide 31 megawatts of capacity and is expected to be operational beginning in the first quarter. CoreWeave’s expenditure adds to the £1 billion that the company is already channeling into the UK across two locations — London Docklands and Crawley. Salesforce Inc., a provider of customer relationship software, announced its intention to invest an additional $2 billion in the UK by the year 2030. This represents an extension of the five-year, $4 billion program that was announced in 2023. Earlier in the week, Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced plans to invest £5 billion over the next two years in the UK, which includes the establishment of a data center in Hertfordshire.
BlackRock Inc. announced its intention to invest £500 million into data centers. The company’s CEO, Larry Fink, is set to join Trump in the UK. The United Kingdom aligns itself with various nations globally in the endeavor to develop local artificial intelligence infrastructure, a concept referred to as sovereign AI. Nvidia, recognized as the world’s most valuable company, perceives this trend as crucial to its future growth. Despite experiencing remarkable sales growth over the past two years, the chipmaker based in Santa Clara, California, derives a significant portion of its revenue from a select group of large data center operators. “The sovereign AI push will contribute to as much as $4 trillion in AI spending by the end of the decade,” Huang has said.
